Wrap up savings on foam trays

This tip could save you $190 over 20 years.

It's time to rummage through the basement for decorations, untangle Christmas lights and start stockpiling foam trays.

What! You don't prepare for the holidays by stockpiling foam trays?

Neither did we. But then we got a phone call from Mary Rose Johnston in Bethlehem, who saves the foam trays from her grocery shopping. Christmas will never be the same.

"The Styrofoam trays work great, especially around the holidays, because to get a container to give someone cookies will cost a dollar," Mary Rose said. "I save my trays and cover them with foil. I put my cookies on there and then top it with plastic wrap. You can give someone cookies and you don't have to worry about buying a container or getting the container back."

If Mary Rose has ever given you cookies, don't worry. She doesn't reuse the foam trays in which chicken is packaged. That would be gross. She only keeps the ones from produce. She shops at Valley Farm Market, where a lot of produce is packaged on foam trays.

You can also use the trays to dish out leftovers at a holiday party so you don't have to worry about people returning your food containers, Mary Rose said.

"You could put chicken Marsala on there or lasagna," Mary Rose said. "Every time you give a container away, if you don't get it back, you have to go get another one."

We did some number crunching in the On The Cheap lab and figure this tip would save you $190 over 20 years, assuming you give cookies as gifts to 10 people. And yes, we included the cost of foil and plastic wrap.

Mary Rose said she's been doing this for several years without thinking much of it. She's getting chemotherapy and radiation treatment, and recently used the foam trays to bring cookies to her care-givers. They were impressed with her resourcefulness, so she decided to share.

"I took all the girls in radiation and chemotherapy cookies, and they said 'Oh my. What a good idea,'" Mary Rose said. "This isn't the greatest tip in the world, but it's better than the banana tip."

Speaking of the holidays, we heard from Becky Snyder in Palmer Township, who taught us all about the cheap fun to be had at the Lil-Le-Hi Trout Nursery in Allentown. She has three kids and is looking for some affordable family activities for the holidays. If you have any good ideas, send them in and we'll pass them along.